NASA taps 7 vendors for multibillion-dollar desktop outsourcing pact

NASA has selected seven vendors for its multibillion-dollar governmentwide program for outsourcing desktop hardware, software and management services.

The Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA (ODIN) is one of the first large federal initiatives to allow agencies to privatize the management and operation of desktop computers and servers. In a similar vein, the General Services Administration is expected to award multiple contracts under its seat management program, possibly as early as Friday.

NASA selected Boeing Information Services Inc., Computer Sciences Corp., DynCorp, FDC Technologies Inc., OAO Corp., RMS Information Services Inc. and Wang Government Services Inc., which is believed to represent all ODIN bidders. The maximum dollar value of each contract ranges from $4.35 billion to $13.12 billion, including orders placed by other agencies.

Under ODIN, each of NASA's 10 centers, including its headquarters, will place orders exclusively with one vendor. ODIN also will be open governmentwide, with GSA managing other agencies' task orders.